Former coach among Lancers hall inductees.
Risnita, Stroud among 2012 inductees
It was more than four decades ago that Don Hollerhead and Dan Devin sat down as classmates at Brennan high school.
Sunday, the two will join another class together when they are enshrined in the University of Windsor Lancers Alumni Sports Hall of Fame.
“We started in Grade 9 at Brennan,” Devin said. “We go way back.”
They both played on the same basketball team, which is where Devin earned his fame as a Lancer, before Hollerhead eventually decided to play football in university.
“We were friends through high school,” Hollerhead said.
“We played basketball together up to Grade 12 before I started focusing more on football.”
“PLAYING AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL WAS SUCH A SPECIAL TIME.”
GEORGIA RISNITA
Sunday’s induction ceremony will also feature former Lancer women’s basketball star Georgia Risnita along with two-sport star Beth MacIntosh (Stroud), who excelled in track and field and volleyball.
Hollerhead was a wide receiver in high school, but assistant coach Morgan Clark quickly made him move to defensive back.
“(Clark) was running a funnel drill, you know one-on-one,” Hollerhead said. “He turned to me and said, ‘You like to hit.’ From there, I moved to defensive back.”
A member of Windsor’s 1975 Yates Cup championship team, Hollerhead was also the DeMarco Award winner as top student athlete for 1974-75. An OUAA first-team all-star four times, Hollerhead was also a standout on punt returns and held the conference record for return yardage for 36 years.
“I loved doing punts,” Hollerhead said. “Thank goodness we had a great defence, so I got a lot of punts.
“Not a lot of people know, but I caught punts for three years in high school and five years in university and never fumbled one and I’m pretty proud of that.”
Devin, who now lives in Cottam, spent five seasons playing guard for the Lancers.
“It’s a pretty humbling experience,” Devin said of being named to the hall. “It brought back a lot of memories of my teammates and the good times we had playing at old St. Denis Hall.
“That’s what came to light right away and I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting.”
Devin helped the Lancers reach the CIAU basketball championships, was named the team’s most valuable player in 1976 and an OUAA all-star in 1977 while leading the team in scoring in 1976-77.
“At this stage of my life, (the honour) is that much more meaningful,” Devin said.
Risnita quickly made an impact on the Lancer women’s basketball program when she arrived on campus in 1994.
“It feels like yesterday, but it also feels like a lifetime ago,” Risnita said. “Playing at the university level was such a special time.”
A four-time OUAA all-star, Risnita led the OUAA in rebounding three times and was the CIAU’s top rebounder twice. She was named the OUAA West rookie of the year in 1994-95 and was also a member of the CIAU’s all-rookie team that season.
Now teaching in the Toronto area, Risnita is on maternity leave after the birth of her third child in August.
“I’m honoured I was nominated and chosen,” said Risnita, who also served as head coach of the Lancer women’s team for five years. “I grew up there. It was a great time.”
MacIntosh played power and middle for the women’s volleyball team for three seasons, but left her mark in track and field where she competed in high jump and the pentathlon.
“I’m really looking forward to getting down,” said MacIntosh, who lives in the Toronto area, but still has family in Amherstburg. “I haven’t been down in a while.”
She was a member of Windsor’s 1999 CIS championship track and field team and a twotime winner of the schools’ Banner Shield as female athlete of the year (1998-99 and 2000-01). MacIntosh was the CIS female track athlete of the year in 2001 and was a CIS allCanadian and OUA champion in high jump and pentathlon.
“You finish university and move on with your life, but I often think about my time at Windsor because I had such a great time,” said MacIntosh, who was teaching in the Toronto area before the birth of her first child.
The Lancers will also recognize Lou Pocock (1964), Dave Prpich (1967 and 1968) and the late Bob Weepers (1962) with sport achievement awards Sunday.
As well, the school will honour the men’s basketball teams from 1970-71 (O-QAA champions), 1971-72 (OUAA champions) and 1972-73 (OUA champions) as well as the OUAA champion men’s fencing teams in 1972-73 and 1973-74.